Candace McCarthy (11 page)

Enjoying his touch, she closed her eyes and sighed softly. When she opened them again, he was smiling at her. His good humor reached his blue eyes, making them appear brighter, more blue.

Unable to help herself, Amelia lifted a hand to the side of his face. She rubbed his cheek, enjoying the rasp of light whisker growth. She touched where his collar dipped in the front in a V, wound her fingers lightly in the soft growth of exposed chest hair, then, aching, she cupped his face and drew him toward her lips.

Daniel moaned as his mouth captured hers in a kiss that fueled the spark of desire between them. Their lips touched and opened, their tongues dueled and dipped low to taste the sweetness of each other’s mouths. Heat spi-raled in the tips of Amelia’s breasts, threading out to bring fire to her lower abdomen. She clung to Daniel and gasped as the sweet heat of desire overwhelmed her, lifting her higher and higher.

He raised his head, but then he touched her where no man had touched before. Cupping her fabric-clad breast, he caressed her, rubbed her nipple. Amelia’s eyes widened briefly with surprise, before she closed her eyes and moaned softly with delight.

“Yes, Amelia,” Daniel rasped. “I knew you would be like this. You’re all fire and sweetness. I love touching you.”

She arched into his hand. The sensations pouring through her were so sweet, yet so wild, that she felt as though she were coming undone.

She didn’t protest when she felt his fingers again on her bodice buttons. She felt the air as he undid each button.
She felt the backs of his knuckles against her heated skin.

Amelia ached to touch Daniel. She wanted to feel his heat, the warmth of his skin next to hers. While he worked to undo the last of her buttons, she struggled to get to him, tugging the hem of his shirt from his breeches, slipping her hands beneath fabric to feel the taut, sleek muscles of his stomach and higher.

His stomach contracted beneath her touch. He had started to open her gown bodice, but he froze as her fingertips reached his nipples. She was surprised to feel them harden into small buds, like her own.

“Let me touch you,” she whispered.

He looked at her with a burning gaze. When he didn’t move, she took it as his consent, and she tugged up his shirt. He released her in order to raise his arms, so she could rid him of the garment.

The heat of him enveloped her, even before she touched him. She caressed him and gave a soft exclamation of delight at the freedom to fondle and stroke his bare skin.

“Amelia—”

She met his gaze. “Don’t you like it when I touch you?”

There was a flash in his blue eyes. “You know I do.”

She smiled. “Good,” she said, “because I like touching you.”

“That’s fine,” he said softly, “but be prepared, for I’ll not sit here inactive while you touch. I want to touch you as well—badly.” He paused to dip his head, pressing his lips within the folds of the open bodice, above the lace edging of her chemise. Her breasts pebbled against the thin fabric of her undergarment. She gasped and grabbed his head, weaving her fingers within his blond hair.

When his mouth caught the area of fabric that covered
her nipple, Amelia cried out with shocked delight. She tried to pulled back his head, but as sensation exploded within her, she held on, pressing him closer, whimpering at the pleasure he was giving her.

He lowered her chemise to expose her breasts. He kissed her right nipple, then laved it with his tongue. Amelia moaned as he continued to taste and touch her.

Suddenly, she felt his hand on her leg, felt the fabric of her skirt rise and the puff of air against her exposed calf. She didn’t try to stop him as he continued to raise the hem of her gown. She put her arms about his neck, tightened her fingers in the hair at his nape. She moved to help him raise her skirts.

Their breaths were labored. She could feel her heart beating wildly. She felt his pulse that echoed the thundering within his chest.

“No, Momma, no!” The cry of a little girl had them crashing back to earth again. “No! No! No!”

Daniel and Amelia sprang apart at the sound of Susie’s cry, and Amelia stumbled to her feet, suddenly aware of where they were, what they were doing … and all the doubts and complications which would have prevented their actions if they’d only taken the time to think ahead.

“Nightmare,” Daniel murmured as he dressed.

Sobered by the interruption, Amelia struggled to redo her bodice. She was afraid to meet Daniel’s gaze, unsure of what she’d see. His silence told her that he, too, was uncomfortable about what had occurred between them.

“Momma!” Susie’s high-pitched scream had Daniel rushing to her side.

Amelia wanted to follow, to see for herself that Susie was all right, but she was too shaken, her legs too trembly to take a step in the right direction. Instead, she sat on
the sofa, leaned forward to cup her head in her hands, and struggled to overcome her embarrassment—and shame.

When she’d regained her composure, Amelia put her embarrassment aside and went to Susie’s room. She found Susie asleep, cradled within Daniel’s arms. Traces of tears were still visible on the child’s cheeks.

Sensing her at the door, Daniel looked up.

“Is she all right?” she mouthed silently.

He nodded. He shifted, setting Susie to lie down. He reassured her with a few soft words when she stirred in her sleep. He covered her up, tucked her in, then rose carefully from the bed. He brushed back Susie’s hair from her forehead and left her side.

Amelia moved out of Daniel’s way. “I heard her call for her mother.”

Daniel nodded. “She had a nightmare.” He looked concerned. “She hasn’t had one for a lone time. I thought she was over them.”

“Any idea what caused it?”

“I wish I knew.” He frowned. “She dreams of the Sioux attack—the one Jane was taken in.”

“Poor thing.” Amelia felt sympathy for the child. Her own father was gone, and she, an adult, was upset. She could imagine how devastating it must be for a small child to lose a parent.

“It’s late,” he said.

Suddenly the shift in mood had come full circle. “Yes,
yes, it is.” The intimacy was back. She could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest, as she waited for his lead.

He rubbed his nape as he looked away. “I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow. I guess I’ll retire for the night.”

It was the wisest choice for both of them to leave each other’s company for the solitary sanctuary of their individual rooms. Still, Amelia felt a knot of disappointment.

“Well, good night then,” she said softly.

“Good night.” He didn’t look at her, and it hurt.

She escaped the awkwardness of the moment by heading toward her room.

“Amelia?”

Pulse racing, she turned to meet his gaze. “Yes?”

“I’ll be leaving for the mission before light. If you need anything or have any trouble, see Jack.”

She nodded, then she continued toward the door of her bedchamber.

“Amelia, I’m sorry about what just happened,” Daniel said, stopping her again.

She faced him with a steady gaze. “I’m not,” she said. She disappeared into her room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Daniel stared at the door to her room, his thoughts racing, his body aching.
She isn’t sorry.

“A dangerous bit of knowledge, Daniel,” he muttered. He wanted her; it was plain and simple. But a relationship between them would be foolish, a complication they didn’t need.

There had been fire between them, and the passionate conflagration had burned hotter, brighter than he’d ever felt before.

Dear God, she didn’t regret it! Daniel fought the urge to go to her, take her in his arms, and …

No, he mustn’t allow desire to rule his head. He had to remember Pamela, his wife … his lovely, treacherous wife. She had lured him in with her charms, with her body, then in the end she’d betrayed him with another man.

As he entered his room, Daniel recalled with startling clarity when he’d first met Pamela. Pamela and her sister Janet had come to stay with her father, an officer at the fort at Prairie du Chien. Daniel’s blacksmithy was a few miles from the fort, situated within a reasonable distance from the trading-post settlement.

He’d been captivated by both of General Randolph’s daughters. Janet, the elder, was an attractive young woman with a ready smile and a look of caring in her hazel eyes. Pamela had been the younger sister. With dark hair that fell in waves down her back, she had green eyes, a coquettish grin, and a complexion of smooth white cream. Of the two sisters, Pamela had seemed the most interested in him, and Daniel was immensely flattered and pleased. They married within a month of their meeting, and Pamela moved out of the fort into Daniel’s home.

Daniel had realized shortly after their marriage that Pamela had pursued him only because her sister Janet had shown an interest in him. It wasn’t long after that Daniel sensed his wife’s discontent. He hadn’t realized it at the time, but Pamela had been a spoiled young woman who had played with his affections in order to win him from her sister. He hadn’t guessed during their brief whirlwind courtship the calculation, the deceit, she’d used to convince him she was in love with him. He’d been enthralled with her beauty, with her attention. After their marriage, the harsh reality of their relationship had been sobering to him.

Things had looked up for the young couple for a time
when Pamela became pregnant. She seemed happy. She smiled more, as if she basked in the glow of impending motherhood. Daniel had been delighted with the change in his wife and the coming of his first child. Pamela’s pregnancy seemed to transform her, making her the woman he’d thought he’d wed.

His world came crashing down on him one day when he returned home from a delivery to the army fort to find Pamela gone. She had left a note on their dining table, informing him that she’d gone away with her lover—the real father of her unborn child … his best friend, James Beck. Daniel was devastated by both his wife’s and his friend’s betrayal. He’d been cuckolded then abandoned, and worse yet, Pamela had lied about her child. Neither she nor James had possessed the courage to face him with the truth. Pamela had left him a note instead.

Daniel, I’ve left you. Gone to be with my lover—the father of my baby.

Something within Daniel had died that day. He’d hardened himself against the pain, but he’d become bitter, eyeing the world with a new icy disdain. When news reached him that Pamela had been killed in a carriage accident along with the driver of the vehicle, James Beck, Daniel’s closest friend and Pamela’s lover, Daniel had experienced sharp betrayal regarding his friend … then nothing. He’d been unable to care enough to mourn either one of them.

When his sister Jane had sent word that she was pregnant and afraid to be alone with her military husband, who was absent more often than not, Daniel decided to go to his sister in her hour of need. They’d always been close. In fact, she and her husband Richard had for a time lived nearby.

When his niece Susie was born and he held her in his
arms, Daniel had felt his heart begin to thaw, and he allowed himself to feel again.

His life with Jane had been a pleasant existence. He loved his sister and adored her child. Then came that terrible day, that afternoon that their cabin was attacked, Jane kidnapped, and Daniel had found his three-year-old niece hiding under the bed.

His search for Jane had been futile. Daniel and Susie managed to build a new life in a different place, far from the scene of Susie’s terror. In the months and then years that followed, Susie had brought Daniel more happiness than he’d felt in a long, long while. It still upset him that after three years he’d been unable to find Jane.

The recent attack on the mission brought the memories, the pain of losing his sister, back to him. Had it stirred up bad memories for Susie? She hadn’t been at the mission, but she’d learned about the attack.

His feelings for Amelia complicated things. Daniel hadn’t expected to feel desire for a woman again, to respect her and value her friendship. The more he learned about her, the more he was convinced that Amelia Dempsey was unlike any other woman he’d ever known … intelligent, attractive, and caring … and a dangerous risk to his aching heart.

Daniel left the cabin when the day was but a hint of light in the distant sky. He started toward Jack’s to tell him of his trip but then he saw Rebb Colfax’s cart exiting the woods and heading his way. Spying him, the older man waved in silent greeting. Daniel changed direction to approach Rebb.

“Hey, Rebb, what are you doing out and about so early?” he asked.

Rebb gestured toward the back of his cart. “Need a few things. Maude wants me hanging around today, so I thought I’d rouse Jack and get my trading done early.” The old man looked at Daniel thoughtfully. “Going someplace?”

“To the mission.” He explained about the Indian raid and the destruction left behind. Rebb was shocked to hear about the kidnappings and the loss of life. Daniel told him about the two survivors at the mission and the woman who was staying at his house.

“Amelia’s father is missing,” Daniel said. “She wants to talk with Allen Whitely, won’t rest until she does. I don’t want her returning to the mission. It’s not safe, and I won’t feel better about it until after Black Hawk scouts the area and pronounces it safe.”

“What did that black devil have to say anyway?”

Daniel frowned. “Why do you insist on calling him that black devil?”

Rebb spit a wad of chewing tobacco on the ground. “ ‘Cause that Indian is a black devil. He’s got something inside him waiting to bust out. He’s like a powder keg just itching to be lit.”

“Does he frighten you?”

“Heck, yeah,” Rebb said. “They all frighten me, but Black Hawk most of all.”

“But you’ve broken bread with him.”

The older man brushed the notion aside with a wave of his arm. “Course I have. I’ve no intention of making an enemy of him.”

“You don’t know the Ojibwa like I do,” Daniel said.

“Well, I reckon I don’t. And I suppose as far as Injuns go, the Ojibwa aren’t a bad lot. That brave—Rain-from-Sky—he seems friendly enough. Once helped me get my wagon unstuck from the mud. I thought I’d just die when
he first showed up, but then as silent as the night, the Injun and his friends pushed my cart free.” Rebb shook his head, the memory a continued source of amazement to him. “I suppose for that reason I’ll give the Ojibwa the benefit of the doubt. Rather encounter an Ojibwa than a Sioux any day. Haven’t had much experience with the Ottawa and or any of the others.”

Daniel, noticing the increasing daylight, realized that he had to get moving. He stifled his impatience as Rebb continued to talk. “I’ve got to go,” he said. “How soon does Maude expect you back?” Maude was Rebb’s wife. His friends rarely thought of her, as she never came to the post. Sometimes, Daniel and Jack wondered if she was a real person or a figment of their old friend’s imagination.

Rebb shrugged. “Not for a couple of hours. Woman probably doesn’t know I’m gone. I left before she woke up”.

“Can you keep an eye on my house and the girls?”

“Sure can. Since I ain’t in no hurry to get home, how about I sit on that front porch swing of yours and wait until Jack wakes up on his own?”

Daniel smiled. “Thanks, Colfax.”

The man grinned. “Just remember my good deed when the time comes for me to need a new shovel made.”

“I’ll remember.”

Daniel left, after returning to the smithy for Jack’s horse, an animal that Jack allowed Daniel the use of. He rode to the mission, for he didn’t want to be gone long. He felt no evil presence, nor did he feel any sense of doom as he broke from the forest into the mission clearing. As he headed toward the building where he’d last seen the Reverend Whitely and the young man, Daniel wondered how they were faring … and if they’d found any more of their missing friends.

***

When she got up and found Daniel gone, Amelia wasn’t surprised, because Daniel had warned her that he’d be leaving early. She peeked into Susie’s room and saw the child sleeping, then left for the kitchen to find something to eat.

As she checked the cabinets and pantry, she didn’t reflect too deeply on the previous evening, for every time she started to remember, she suffered a sensation between embarrassment and excitement. Her feelings for Daniel confused and dismayed her; she couldn’t afford to think of him right now. Her first and main concern at the moment was finding her father … and Miriam. She didn’t know the young woman too well, but she had been helpful and caring, and she’d helped Amelia adjust to a life much different than the one she’d led previously.

She made herself a pot of tea, brewed from local plants and herbs, something Miriam had taught her. Grabbing a piece of bread and a handful of berries picked only yesterday, Amelia headed toward the door and the porch swing outside.

She opened the door and gasped, then shrieked, as she came face-to-face with an Indian. She held up her teacup as if it were a weapon. “Who are you? What do you want?” She started to tremble and was in great danger of spilling her tea and dropping her breakfast.

The brave didn’t move, didn’t speak. He stared at her with dark glistening eyes, and she felt a chill. She thought of Susie in bed behind her, and debated whether or not she could shut the man out and lock the door. The Indian wore little in the way of apparel, just a vest and a loincloth of dark leather with leggings to just above the knees, and moccasins with a puckered front seam. His jet-black
hair hung past his shoulders; a small braid hung on each side of his face. He had riveting features. His high cheekbones were unpainted; she noted the lack of face paint and felt better, but only a little, for she didn’t know much about the Indians. Amelia had encountered them only three times—and the third time had been the worst experience of her life as a band attacked, kidnapped, and killed people she knew.

The Indian still didn’t stir, and Amelia found herself wondering what to do. Terror was clawing its way from her throat to her stomach, and she couldn’t breathe. Then she heard movement behind her, knew she’d have to do something fast or Susie would be at risk.

“What do you want?” she demanded in a stronger voice.

The corner of his mouth curved slightly. Was she wrong or did she see a twinkle of amusement in his obsidian eyes?

She turned quickly to see Susie emerge from her bedchamber. “Susie, go back into your room!”

Susie, blinking sleepily, frowned. “What—” she began, then she spied the Indian. “Black Hawk!” she cried. To Amelia’s shock, the little girl rushed forward. The woman watched as the Indian’s expression softened as he held out his arms.

“Sus-sie,” he said. “It has been too long since I’ve seen my little flower.”

The child grinned and, to Amelia’s surprise, said something foreign.

The brave’s gaze returned to Amelia. “Little Flower says that this man wouldn’t be a stranger to her if only he would come to his friend’s lodge more often.”

“Oh, I—”